Music box



Patented Nov. 23, 1948 U NIT 1E!) .15 TATLETS :OF F 1 CE 32,454,361 wereBox -Eric Wedemeycr, -Floral Park, N. Y., assignor to Hamilton Art:Metal Corporation, New iYork N. Y., a corporation of NewYorkfipplicatioii'DeoemberBo, 1944f Sr i'al No. 570,519

- 9 Claimsi particularly to=a musical box 'cigarettedispensing apparatus'of the so called Tudor type, "and moreespecially to the mechanism :foroperating the cigarette holding two doors thereof.

*An object of the invention is to provide, in a musical box, an improvedmechanism operated by the motor driving the musical in'strument andreliably and-simultaneously opening and closing a pair of doorspertaining to said musical box.

An object of the inventionresides in themevision of a mechanism of thetypeset forth above having one operating crank and two individual link.connections individually connected and operated' by said crankandindividuallyconnect'ed withand operating the-"doors-of the music box.

A further object of" the invention is the provision ofan improved"pusher or plunger mechanism for starting the music and door operatingmechanism whereby damage to the musical instrument and its drivingmotoras well as to the pusher mechanism is prevented.

Further and o-thenobjects of the present inventionwillbe hereinafterset' forth in theaccompanying specification and claims and shown in thedrawings which, by way of illustration, show what I now consider tobeapreferred embodiment of my invention.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is apart sectional top view of the musical box and particularlyof thedoor operating mechanism according to the invention.

Fig. 2 is a part sectional front view oftheimusical box and particularlyof the door-operating mechanism according to the invention.

Fig. 3 is a front view of the crank. andlink means according to theinvention in upperdead center position.

Like parts aredesignated by like'numerals in all figures of thedrawings.

Numeral l in Fig. '1- designates themotor which is of the conventionalinusic-box'type and which revolves cylinder 2 having .pins cooperatingwith the vibration comb 3. The motor is wound up by manipulating akey 4disposed 'ina recess in the bottom of base plate 5. To prevent unwindingof the motor when the device is not used, a two arm lever '6; 6 isprovided,.swinging about fulcrum l and having .a peg 8 at theend of arm6' which peg, when the device .isin inoperative condition, isinsertedinto a hole in gear wheel 9 and prevents rotation thereof.

For starting operation of the device, lever 6,- t is.turnedcounterclockwise whereby1peg= 8 is, pulled out or its hole .inwwheel..9- iandthe latter is free :to rotate. The tip of the ee slides onwheel9 -tliis is the condition shown in Fig. 1- untiithe whee] has'madea complete revolution, when the'peg snapsagain into its hole therebypreventing revolving of wheel 8and stopping the mechanism. To assurethis sliding of the peg on the'wheeua coil spring" in isco'nneoted withthe end or aii'n' fi'of 1ever 6; 6' and with a stationary part 'Of thedevice. For producing the small counterclockwisemovement of lever 6,15needed for starting the 'ir'nech'anism, a plunger H is rovided, guidedand reeiprccatingly movable in block '12. The outer'end'of plunger llcarriesa cap :I3' dispo'sed in 'a-recess [4 of the outer wall oftheinusic box proper. Cap M has a rim 'portion of -largerdiameterthan"plunger H and a coil spring I5 is inserted-betweensaid rimportion and the bottom of recess M. This spring normally forcestheplunger outwardtill the outer surfaceof' cap is flushwith the outersurface IB 'bf the m'usic box. A pin l'l which extends through plungerll prevents too far outward movement ofthe plunger by abutment on blockl2. Thainward movementof the plunger is limited bythe"fully'compressedcoilspring l5 filling up thespace'between the rim 'ofcap l3 and theb'ottom 'of' 'recess I4. Any damage to thelever 6, 6 and partsconnectedther'ewith by pushing the-plungertoo =far inward is effectivelyprevented by' =the arrangementjust described. Damage-to theiplunger andparts connected therewith whichmight occii'r if the'outer end of theplunger projects beyond'sur'faoe I6 is also effectively prevented. 'InFig. 1 the plunger is shown in its innermost'position to which it hasbeen brought by depressing button cap l3 and in which it justhasturnedlever 6, 6' counterclockwise to pull peg=8-'.out"of its holeand to permit rotation of cylinder Taiidpitrfi's connected thereto. "Byreleasing button [3 the plunger snaps'o'utward until pin I'I engagesblock l2; and the point of peg 8 slides-on the'surfa'ce of wheel!) heldthereto by thetensio'n of spring in.

'The'far end of cylinder 2 holds a crank l8 havinga pm end 19. TWOconnectin links 20 and 2| are rotatably disposed on pin l5. Link 2| isbent at 22 -to. :provide space between connecting links 2 0 and 2| forangle links 23 and 24 which arepivoted with their short arms to links 20and 2 respectively. at 25 and 26 respectively. The longarmof angle link'23 is bent oppositely to the bond 22 of link 2| to provide space forangle link 2 The-long arm-of link 231s rigidly connected 3 with boxportion 21 of door 28 and the long arm of link 24 with box portion 29 ofdoor 30.

The doors are substantially vertical and swing about horizontal axesdisposed near the upper closure of the lower compartment of the devicewhich contains the musical instrument and the driving means therefor anda portion of the link means connecting the driving means and the swingdoors for operation of the latter. The doors are adapted to close theupper chamber formed by the top 34 of the lower chamber, the side walls35 and 36 and the top 31. swings about fulcrum 32 and door 39 aboutfulcrum 33.

When peg 8 is released and the music plays, crank l8 turns clockwise. Inthe condition shown in Fig. 2 the crank has already moved 270 and thedoors 28 and Si] are on their way back into closed position. When pin I9has reached lower dead center position the doors are completely closedand in the position shown in dotted lines for the left door 30. When pin[9 isin upper dead center position which is shown in Fig. 3-

the doors are fully open and in the position indicated in dotted linesfor the right door 28. This is the position where a cigarette may betaken out of a pocket formed by the box portions 27 or 29 of the doors.In the position of the mechanism shown in Fig. 2 the hole for the peg 8is in the position designed by numeral 3|.

While it is believed that the above described embodiment of thisinvention is a preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that it isnot desired to be limited to the exact details of method, design andconstruction shown and described, for obvious modifications will occurto a person skilled in the art.

I claim:

1. In a music-box comprising an outside wall portion, a musicalinstrument and driving means therefor within said box, locking meansconnected with said driving means and preventing operation thereof andcomprising a lever, unlocking means comprising a plunger member havingan end abuttingly cooperating with said lever, support means disposed insaid box and movably supporting said plunger member, a cavity in saidwall portion, the other end of said plunger member extending into saidcavity, cap means connected with said other end of said plunger memberand having an outer surface adapted to substantially close said cavity,resilient means disposed between said cap means and the bottom of saidcavity and tending to force said plunger member out of said box, andstop means connected with said plunger member and adapted to abutagainst said support means and preventing further outward movement ofsaid plunger member when the outer surface of said cap means issubstantially flush with the outer surface of said wall portion adjacentsaid cavity.

2. In a music box comprising an outside wall portion, a musicalinstrument and driving means therefor within said box, locking andunlocking means connected with said driving means and comprising aplunger member extending through said wall portion, support meansdisposed in said box and movably supporting said plunger, resilientmeans connected with said plunger member and said box and tending toforce'said plunger member out of said box, and stop means connected withsaid plunger member and with said box and limiting the outwardmovementof said plunger member. v v

3. A music box system comprising'iri combination, a box, a housingmounted on top of said box and having two opposed open sides, individualswing doors for individually closing said sides, each swing doorcomprising a container extending into said housing, a motor and amusical instrument driven thereby disposed in said box, and link meansconnecting said motor and said containers for simultaneously swinging inopposite directions and thereby opening and closing said doors by saidmotor.

4. A music box system as defined in claim 3,

said-motor having a crank and said link means comprising two individualsets of link members individually connecting said crank and saidcontainers. e

5. A music box system comprising, in combina- --tion, a box having a topportion, a, housing mounted on said top portion and having two opposedopen sides, a door for each open side swingably connected with saidhousing adjacent said box and swinging about an axis parallel to saidtop portion, each door comprising a container extending into'saidhousing, a connecting means projecting from each containertoward saidbox, and thereinto when the doors are closed, a motor and a musicalinstrument driven thereby disposed in said box and having a crank, andtwo individual link members individually swingably connected with saidcrank and with said connecting means.

6. A music box system comprising, in combination, a box having a, topportion, a housing mounted on said top portion and having two opposedopen sides, a door for each open side swingably connected with saidhousing adjacent said box and swinging about an axis parallel to saidtop portion, each door comprising a container extending into saidhousing, a connecting means connected with each container and having alower portion projecting from the container and toward the lower portionof the connecting means of the other container and toward said box, andthereinto when the doors are closed, a motor and a musical instrumentdriven thereby disposed in said box and having a crank, and twoindividual link members individually swingably connected with said crankand with said lower portion of said connecting means.

7. A music box system as defined in claim 6, said connecting means beingof L-shaped configuration with the long portion connected to thecontainer and the short portion forming said lower portion.

8. A music box system comprising, in combination, a box, a housingmounted on top of said box and having two opposed open sides, individualswing doors for individually closing said sides, each swing doorcomprising a container extending into said housing, a motor and amusical instrument driven thereby disposed in said box and comprising acrank, individual link means individually connecting said crank and saidcontainers and simultaneously swinging in opposite directions andthereby simultaneously opening and closing both doors upon onerevolution of said crank.

9. A music box system as defined in claim 8, said motor comprising ashaft to which said crank is connected, a disc connected with said shaftand having an aperture, a lever slidingly engaging said disc andswinging about a stationary pivot in said box and having a portionadapted to en gage said aperture and prevent rotation of said disc,shaft, motor and crank, a spring connected with said lever and holdingit against said disc,

5 6 and manipulatable means engaging said lever for UNITED STATESPATENTS moving it against the action of said spring and Number Name Datereleasing it from said aperture for starting the 1 734 770 Kayan NOV 51929 motor 1,876,753 Reuge Sept. 13, 1932 ERIC WEDEMEYER- 5 2,244,160Jacobson June 3, 1941 REFERENCES CITED 2,279,182 Snyder Apr. 7. 1942 Thefollowing references are of record in the file of this patent:

